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The Truman Doctrine

The Truman Doctrine and the Development of American Foreign Policy during the Cold War On March 12, 1947, President Harry S. Truman defined United States foreign policy in the context of its new role as a world superpower. Many historians consider his speech to Congress as the words that officially started the Cold War. The Truman Doctrine was a major break from U.S. historical trends of isolationist foreign policy. His speech led to the Cold War policy of containment. Moreover, it served as a precedent for future U.S. policy of interventionism. According to Stephen Ambrose, an important quote from Truman’s speech, “I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures,” stands as “all encompassing” and would “define American policy for the next generation and beyond.”1 Faced with strong opposition, Truman was still able to achieve a consensus in Congress aimed at quelling the communist threat through active foreign policy and involvement. The Truman Doctrine not only demonstrated the new foreign policy of the U.S., but also helps to explain American foreign policy since the Doctrine’s inception.

At the end of World War II, the military and foreign policies of the White House were moving in opposite directions. Militarily, the U.S. adopted a position of rapid demobilization after the war. Meanwhile, Truman had a strong desire to meet the communist ‘threat’ head on. Congress, however, did not share Truman’s view of needing “to meet the Communist challenge wherever it appeared.” For example, Senator Robert Taft, a prominent Republican senator, “expressed the current mood when he objected to any attempt by the Administration to divide the world into communist and anti-communist zones, for “he did not want war with the Soviet Union.” As for the sentiment of the American public, “there was no denying that the majority of the American people did not...

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“I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” President Harry S. Truman March 12, 1947 [1]
Critics have called the TrumanDoctrine the “first shot of the cold war”, a global license for...

...THE TRUMANDOCTRINE
During the Cold War, most U.S. presidents came up with policies also known as “doctrines” to help remember who stood for what. In this report I will be summarizing a situation that required U.S. diplomatic efforts during President Harry Truman time; explicate the diplomatic doctrine the president followed; describing the effects of this diplomatic efforts for the U.S. and other countries; assess the advantages and disadvantages of the particular doctrine that followed.
In February 1947, the British government informed the United States that it could no longer furnish the economic and military assistance it had been providing to Greece and Turkey since the end of WWII. The Truman administration believed that both nations were threatened by communism and it jumped at the chance to take a tough stand against the Soviet Union. In Greece, force has been battling the Greek royal government since the end of WWII. In Turkey, the Soviets were demanding some manner of control over the Dardanelles, territory from which Turkey was able to dominate the strategies waterways from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.
On March 12, 1947 Truman appear before a group of Congress to make his case. He declared the world faced a chance in the years to come. Nations could adapt a way of life “based upon the will of the majority” and minority forcibly imposed upon...

...impact on the TrumanDoctrine
George Kennan’s long telegram had many impacts on the American foreign policy. Its influence can be seen directly through the TrumanDoctrine in 1947. The Long Telegram influenced Truman’s doctrine of containment, and it opened the eyes of many Washington officials as to how dangerous the Soviets and more specifically communism was.
George Kennan’s Long Telegram was a reply as to why the Soviets weren’t supporting the World Bank and the International Money Fund. At the time, the American view of the Soviet was friendly, yet cautious because the Soviets had been allied with the US in WWII. The long telegram, which wasreleased to the public in 1947, basically created the foundation on which the Cold War stood from the US’ point of view. By claiming that the Soviets were completely against capitalism, would side with Marxists, and separated from reality, Kennan set up a standard system of beliefs that the US would follow throughout the Cold War, and even gave ideas as to how to combat the Soviets if need be. The Long Telegram gave the US clear reason to consider war with Russia inevitable. It fostered further fear in America of the Soviets by talking about how Russia couldn’t be trusted and great lengths should be taken to ensure the absence of Soviets and their influence in America.
The TrumanDoctrine was a contribution made to...

...Why was the TrumanDoctrine formed?
When Harry S. Truman took over from Roosevelt in 1945 he made it clear that he intended to contain the spread of communism and his get ‘though plan’ with Stalin was an example of the lengths he was willing to go to. In 1947, in an immediate response to the British government announcing that it could no longer afford to keep its soldiers fighting Communist rebels in Greece, 2 months later Harry Truman and his cabinet came up with the TrumanDoctrine. It barley took him any consideration at that time, but it was in his speech to congress in a plea to approve the plan that it became evident he had thought about this moment for quite a while. This was contradictory to the public mood as historian Matt Davies claims ‘It seemed to the public that Truman was impulsive and had not thought about the vast sums of money being pumped into Europe.’
To understand the roots of the formation of the TrumanDoctrine it is imperative to know about the problems Truman faced in American Congress itself. Henry Wallace was completely against Truman’s plans and mocked them to the extent that Truman decided to sack him because he was openly criticizing his in congress. He believed that Truman’s get though policy was wrong and in fact lead to more tension with Russia. He claimed in a speech in 1946 ‘the...

...The Cold War and U. S. Diplomacy: The TrumanDoctrine
Ardell Simmons
Professor Muhammad Sohna
Politics 300
Friday, December 2, 2011
The TrumanDoctrine: Contain the Expansion of Communism, Presumably Everywhere
Summarize a situation that required U.S. diplomatic efforts during the president’s time in office.
According to Woolsey (2008), “WWII had bled the British Forces to the bone. The Battle of Britain, and the huge casualties suffered in Africa and the Continent had made it impossible for them to continue the level of support for affairs in the Balkans and the Middle East. It was with an understanding of this situation that President Truman and his advisors decided that the US had to become involved. And it was from this understanding that the TrumanDoctrine was born. So, on March 12, 1947 President Truman issued a Presidential pronouncement declaring immediate economic and military aid to the governments of Greece, threatened by Communist insurrection, and to Turkey, under pressure from Soviet expansion in the Mediterranean area. Great Britain announced that it could no longer afford aid to those key countries. Both Turkey and Greece were targets for the Russians to bring them in as Communistic satellites. Congress appropriated $400 million to support the implementation of this doctrine. This was in addition to the $3 trillion loan...

...theirs and received the most help from the Marshall Aid and TrumanDoctrine. It was also written in 1947 around the time of the Marshall plan for educated people who would read this magazine, so its purpose would have most likely been to re-assure the people that Western Europe is being defended from communism.
This source depicts Truman hammering down a line of dollars to defend Western Europe from communism as there are stormy clouds coming from Eastern Europe, showing the takeover of communism. Also in the Trumandoctrine, the main aim was to defend Western Europe with American dollars as they instilled a policy of containment, meaning that communism would not spread and remain within its existing boundaries. To do this, the congress granted $400 million to support Greece and Turkey as Turkey was in charge of the Dardanelles and if they came under the influence of the USSR Greece would be surrounded by communism and fall too – this is a domino effect which was prevented in 1949. However when it comes to the Marshall Plan one may say that that was his main aim. This is because the aim of the Marshall Plan was to help restore normal economic activity in Europe so that they would not turn to communism for help in desperate measures. To do this the congress granted $13 billion to aid fuel, raw materials, goods, loans and food, machinery and advisers.
Therefore I agree with this source as by using US...

...Harry S. Truman can be rated as “Near Great.” Truman started from humble origins and began his dramatic climb from obscurity during the most volatile times in American history.
The impressiveness of Truman’s eight years as president lies in his resolve and strong unwavering opinions. He was a firm believer that what has happened in the past can help dictate what will happen in the future. Because of this thinking, he often drew parallels from historical events to help him make decisions in times of crisis. Truman’s tactics and respect for well thought out plans makes him very admirable when he is stacked against the vast majority of impulsive leaders.
Harry Truman’s tenacity can be seen in his very active foreign policy programs. Harry Truman was exclusively a wartime president, therefore this shaped his decisive decisions when it came to foreign policy. Specifically Truman was one of the first presidents to have to constantly worry about containing the spread of communism. This initiative can be seen in his creation of the TrumanDoctrine, this doctrine stated that America would provide assistance to any Democratic nation under internal or external threat from communism. It is blatantly obvious America is no longer isolationist. By pledging assistance to Greece and Turkey after Britain stopped supporting them, America secured their economical and strategic advantage in...

...Daniel Perez
December 1, 2012
U.S. History
TrumanDoctrine
World War II was a brutal international war that included the great powers of the world which are claimed to be The United States, Germany, USSR, Great Britain, Italy and Japan. The war lasted 6 long years, but in 1945 Germany and Japan both surrendered to The United States therefore terminating the devastating war. This drastic defeat resulted in The United States and the USSR to emerge as the super powers of the world, which then briefly led to a dreadful ‘Cold War’ between these two dominant countries. During this period of the Cold War, George Kennan, an American diplomat, developed a containment theory that confirmed the USSR perceived itself in an everlasting war with capitalism. This “Long Telegram” was the key to inform The United States and other democratic countries to fight against the expansion of communism around the globe. The two Western European countries that this document includes are Greece and Turkey, which are both going through a tragic economic catastrophe making them easily vulnerable to communism. But Together with the aid and financial support of the United States, Greece and Turkey, can both make an effort to resist any terrorist actions led by communist.
In a synopsis, what this document proclaims is that Greece and Turkey are both having a difficult time remaining as capitalist countries and have no other democratic country to turn to for help but...